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Pairings Announced For ACC Wrestling Championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The University of Maryland is set to serve as the host school for the 59th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championship, which is set for Saturday at Comcast Arena in College Park, Md.

The doors to Comcast will open at 10 a.m., with first- round action set to begin at 11 a.m. The semifinals are set for 1 p.m., followed by the semifinal consolation matches at 3:30. The consolation finals are set for 5 p.m., followed by the championship matches at 7 p.m. All seating for the ACC Championship is general admission. Tickets are $5 in advance and $10 at the door, with ages 3 and under admitted free.

All rounds of the 2013 ACC Wrestling Championship will be carried live by ESPN3, which plans dual mat coverage.

Please see the attached file for complete brackets and seeding for each weight class. Seeded No. 1 are UNC's Kraisser at 125 Maryland's Alexander at 133, North Carolina's Henderson at 141, Virginia Tech's Brascetta at 149, Dong at 157 and Yates at 165; Maryland's Asper at 174, Sheptock at 184 and Christian Boley at 197; and Virginia Tech's David Marone at 285.

The 125-pound bracket showcases the last three ACC champions in that weight class. Garnett took the title in 2010 and 2011 before taking a medical redshirt last season. Virginia's Snyder claimed the championship last season.

Other defending ACC champions expected to compete Saturday include Virginia Tech's Brascetta at 149, the Hokies' Yates (the 2012 ACC Championship's Most Valuable Wrestler) at 165 and Maryland's Boley at 197. The Terps' Sheptock captured last year's 174-pound title but has moved up a weight class and will be competing in this year's championship at 184. Virginia's Jon Fausey, last year's 184-pound champion, is now competing in the 174-pound class.

Virginia Tech finished the regular season ranked seventh in the NWCA/USA Today poll, while Virginia is 13th and Maryland 24th.

InterMat, which ranks teams according to NCAA Tournament projections, places Virginia Tech tied for 11th, Maryland 20th, Virginia 24th and North Carolina 25th. Both Duke (tied for 51st) and NC State (49th on Feb. 5) were listed in the InterMat rankings at some point during the regular season.

In addition to a team championship, ACC wrestlers will be competing to fill the conference's 30 automatic individual weight-class spots in the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 21-23 at Des Moines, Iowa. The ACC is also hopeful of earning several spots among the 40 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 13.

Maryland leads all schools with 24 ACC Championships. North Carolina owns 17 ACC wrestling titles, followed by NC State with 14 and Virginia with four. Maryland is hosting the ACC Wrestling Championship for the 16th time and for the first time since 2008.